The left never fell with 37.9% and the right with 34% with 17 votes.

The total vote for left-wing parliamentary parties has never fallen below 37.9% in the 17 general elections held since 25 April 1974, while the right had its worst result in 1975 with 34%.

In the 17 elections held in democratic Portugal, including the Constituent Assembly elections in 1975, the left received a 12-fold higher percentage of the vote, while the right received only a five-fold higher percentage of the vote. The PS formed government 10 of the 12 times the left came to the fore, with the PSD governing seven, two of them with an opposing majority: the first AD government in 1979 and Cavaco Silva’s first victory, in 1985. .

The worst percentage result of the sum of left parties represented in parliament was recorded in the 1991 legislative elections, in which Cavaco Silva’s PSD won a second absolute majority, an election in which General Ramalho Inés’s PRD disappeared from the Assembly of the Republic. after reaching 18% in 1985.

The right had its worst showing in the first elections after the dictatorship for the Constituent Assembly in 1975, when it received 34%. And the biggest legislative defeat occurred in 2019: the percentages of the NDP-NSD, SDS-NP, Chegi and IL amounted to a total of 34.6% and 86 deputies. The PSD led by Rui Rio reached 27.8%, Assunção Cristas’ CDS-PP 4.2%, and Andre Ventura’s Chega and Carlos Guimarães Pinto’s IL each 1.3%.

PS António Costa won the 2019 elections with 36.3%, continuing to govern the country with the parliamentary support of the PCP and PEV (6.3% and 12 MPs), but without the support of the BE (9.5% and 19 MPs). In this vote, Livre de Rui Tavares gained 1.1% and one deputy.

The left’s biggest electoral defeat – 37.9% – occurred in 1991, when Cavaco Silva’s PSD won a second absolute majority – 50.6% and 135 deputies. In these elections, the sum of the right-wing parties, including Manuel Sergio’s PSN (the so-called retired party), reached 56.7% and 141 deputies. The PS was led by Jorge Sampaio, who would become President of the Republic for 10 years, the PCP-PEV coalition – the historical communist leader Alvaro Cunhal and the PSR, which gained 1.1%, but did not elect a single deputy. for Francisco Luzana.

The arithmetic sum of the results of the parties on the left and the right took on particular significance when the PS António Costa, after losing the 2015 elections, broke with tradition and decided to govern with the parliamentary support of the BE, PCP and PEV, resulting in a government decision that became known as the “Geringons”.

If on the right, there have been no obstacles to forming coalitions for a long time since in 1979 Sa Carneiro’s PDP joined forces with Diogo Freitas do Amaral’s SDS and Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles’ PPM to form the Democratic Alliance (AD), the left went took this step only in 2015 in order to facilitate government decision-making in its political sphere.

Although many political leaders believe that the division between left and right no longer made sense after the French Revolution of 1789, when the king’s supporters sat to the right of the President of the National Assembly and the revolutionaries to the left, the truth is that governability in democratic Portugal was guaranteed by one or the other. the other side of the political spectrum.

The news regarding the legislative elections on the 10th is the rise of Chegi, a member of the European far-right political family with which other parties promise not to enter into any agreement. It remains to be seen whether, with or without Chega, the political majority will lean left or right and what management decisions it will allow.

General Elections – Results

1975 (Founding) – Left 55.3% and 152 deputies – Right 34% and 97 mandates

PS 37.9% (116 deputies)

PPD 26.4% (81)

PCP 12.5% ​​(30)

CDS 7.6% (16)

MDP 4.1% (5)

UDP 0.8% (1)

ADIM Macau 0.003 (1)

1976 (Legislature) Left 51% and 148 deputies – Right with 40.3% and 115 deputies

PS 34.9% (107)

PPD 24.3% (73)

CDS 16.0% (42)

PCP 14.4% (40)

UDP 1.7% (1)

1979 – Right 45.2% and 128 deputies – Left 48.3% and 122 deputies

AD 45.2% (128)

PS 27.3% (74)

Ukrainian Armed Forces 18.8% (47)

UDP 2.2%% (1)

1980 – Right 47.6% and 134 deputies – Left 45.9% and 116 deputies

AD 47.6% (134)

Fed 27.8% (74)

Ukrainian Armed Forces 16.7% (41)

UDP 1.4% (1)

1983 Left 54.2% and 145 deputies – Right 39.7% and 105 deputies

PS 36.1% (101)

PPD/PSD 27.2% (75)

Ukrainian Armed Forces 18.1% (44)

CDS 12.5% ​​(30)

1985 – Left with PRD 54.1% and 140 deputies – Right 39.9% and 110 deputies

PPD/PSD 29.9% (88)

PS 20.7% (57)

PRD 17.9% (45)

APU 15.5% (38)

CDS 10% (22)

1987 Right 54.6% and 152 deputies – Left with PRD 39.2% and 98 deputies.

PPD/PSD 50.2% (148)

PS 22.2% (60)

CDU 12.1% (31)

PRD 4.9% (7)

CDS 4.4% (4)

1991 Right with PSN 56.7% and 141 deputies – Left 37.9% and 89 deputies*

PPD/PSD 50.6% (135)

PS 29.1% (72)

CDU 8.8% (17)

CDS 4.4% (5)

PSN 1.7% (1)

* As of these elections, the Assembly of the Republic now has 230 deputies, which is 20 fewer than in the previous elections.

1995 – Left with 52.4% and 127 deputies – Right with 43.1% and 103 deputies

PS 43.8% (112)

PPD/PSD 34.1% (88)

SDS-PP 9% (15)

CDU 8.6% (15)

1999 – Left with 55.4% and 134 deputies – Right with 40.6 and 96 deputies

PS 44.0% (115)

PPD/PSD 32.3% (81)

CDU 9% (17)

SDS-PP 8.3% (15)

BE 2.4% (2)

2002 – Right with 48.9% and 119 deputies – Left with 47.5% and 111 deputies

PPD/PSD 40.2% (105)

PS 37.8% (96)

SDS-PP 8.7% (14)

CDU 6.9% (12)

BE 2.8% (3)

2005 – Left with 58.8% and 143 deputies – Right with 36.0 and 87 deputies

PS 45.0% (121)

PPD/PSD 28.8% (75)

CDU 7.5% (14)

CDS 7.2% (12)

BE 6.3% (8)

2009 Left with 54.1% and 128 deputies – Right 39.5% and 102 deputies

PS 36.5% (97)

PPD/PSD 29.1% (81)

SDS-PP 10.4% (21)

BE 9.8% (16)

CDU 7.8% (15)

2011 Right with 48.3% and 132 deputies – Left with 41.1% and 98 deputies

PPD-PSD 38.6% (108)

PS 28.0% (74)

SDS-PP 11.7% (24)

CDU 7.9% (16)

BE 5.2% (8)

2015 Left with 50.7% and 122 deputies, MP from the 1st party and right 38.5% and 107 deputies.

PaF (PSD+CDS-PP) 38.5% (107)

PS 32.3% (86)

BE 10.2% (19)

CDU 8.2% (17)

PAN 1.4% (1)

2019 – Left with 53.2% and 140 deputies – PAN 4 deputies – Right with IL with 34.6% and 86 deputies

PS 36.3% (108)

PPD/PSD 27.8% (79)

BE 9.5% (19)

CDU 6.3% (12)

SDS-PP 4.2% (5)

PAN 3.3% (4)

Arrivals 1.3% (1)

IL 1.3% (1)

Free 1.1% (1)

2022 – Left with 51.4% and 132 deputies – PAN with 1.6% and 1 deputy – Right with Chega and IL and SDS (which remained outside parliament) 42.8% and 97 deputies

PS 41.4% (120)

PPD/PSD 29.1% (77)

Reaches 7.2% (12)

IL 4.9% (8)

BE 4.4% (5)

CDU 4.3% (6)

CDS 1.6% (did not elect deputies for the first time)

PAN 1.6% (1)

Free 1.3% (1)